FrightFest Review Finds ‘Dead Reset’ Delivers a Brutal, High-Speed Horror Adventure

Dead Reset, a feature-length film assembled from footage created for Wales Interactive’s live-action full-motion video game, premiered at FrightFest. In its review, Dread Central describes director Stewart Sparke’s adaptation as a fast-moving horror adventure built around escalating danger, repeated deaths and a mysterious research facility. The film follows surgeon Cole Mason, played by Daniel Thrace, who wakes inside the facility with no memory of how he arrived. After the facility’s manager, Magson (Andrina Carroll), orders him to perform an emergency operation, Cole discovers that he is trapped in a time loop. A parasitic creature is also loose inside the facility, leaving him to find a way out before one of his deaths becomes permanent. Dread Central’s review credits Thrace with conveying Cole’s growing panic and desperation as he navigates the facility’s maze-like corridors. The review also highlights the production design, describing the setting as a high-tech nightmare, and notes that the story gradually reveals more about the facility’s location and Cole’s past. Gore is a major part of the film’s approach. According to the review, the production relies primarily on practical effects, with frequent displays of extreme violence and elaborate death sequences. The creature begins by burrowing into human hosts before emerging and growing larger. Dread Central characterizes its final form as a grotesque, tentacled, insect-like design capable of grabbing and impaling its victims. The supporting cast includes Carroll as the uncompromising Magson, Lyndsey Craine as Fearne, a facility worker concealing dark secrets, and Dennis Rasaq as Riz, the security chief. The review praises the performances but says the film’s rapid pace leaves limited room to develop the supporting characters or fully explore its revelations. That lack of detail also contributes to the uncertainty surrounding whom Cole can trust. Dread Central ultimately considers Dead Reset an enjoyable and exhilarating feature for viewers drawn to urgent survival stories and heavy gore. The review’s main reservation is that the film could have devoted more attention to character development and backstory, although it concludes that Cole’s struggle to escape remains compelling throughout.